


Rivalry

by greenmage128



Series: Tumblr Drabbles [9]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Multi, Prank Wars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-26 17:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1696505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenmage128/pseuds/greenmage128
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabe has an odd way of testing people. Balthazar is up to the challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rivalry

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on May 23, 2014 for Quick Fic Friday: Week 9. Takes place in the same 'verse as my other QFF entries, though this one's a bit of a prequel to the others, if you're looking for a timeline of any sort. Pure, unabashed fun. :P

It started small. It always did. 

A lazy Saturday afternoon. Crowley was tinkering with a culinary experiment in the kitchen, Gabriel was beating the stuffing out a thirteen year old on Xbox Live, while Balthazar lounged on the balcony with his typical cup of tea. Or so they thought. 

“What the bloody hell?” was the shout from the balcony. 

Crowley’s first instinct was to look across the breakfast bar at Gabriel in the living room. “What did you do?” 

The shorter man didn’t even look up from his game. “Nothing.” 

“Gabriel.”

“Okay. I thought Balth’s tea could use a little… spicing up.”

“Oh no, not this again. This is why we go through roommates like paper towels,” Crowley said. 

Balthazar threw open the sliding glass door, the poor thing slamming to a stop, and all but stomped into the living room. He looked straight at Gabriel, and though Crowley couldn’t see his reaction, he knew the return expression was an infuriating mix of cheek and innocence. 

After a moment the blond moved past him to the kitchen, where Crowley was waiting with a bag of his own precious Earl Grey and a fresh cup.

* * *

It was a ritual of Gabriel’s to prank their new roommates within their first two months of staying, just a bit of fun, he claimed. At this point it became a litmus test. Their last one, Castiel, had been firm about how not-amused he was by the whole thing. So perhaps, given that he was Cas’ cousin, Balthazar’s reaction should have been expected. 

A week after the Tea-Bauchery, Gabriel found all of his socks neatly folded in matching pairs in his dresser drawer. The only reason Crowley knew this was because Gabriel came storming into the dining room that morning brandishing one of the said pairs like it was a weapon. 

“Hey, Frenchie, not cool, man,” Gabriel said, pointing at Balthazar. 

The blond leaned back in his chair, sipped his coffee, and stared up at Gabriel with one raised eyebrow. “You play with fire, and you’re going to get burned.”

Gabriel narrowed his golden eyes. “You really don’t want to do this.”

Balthazar smiled. “Oh, but I do.”

“I’m warning you. I won’t hold back.”

“Neither will I, darling.”

Crowley set down his paper and rubbed his temples, glancing between the two of them. “Can we not? Nobody is going to win this pissing contest, and I am certainly not cleaning up the mess.”

The pair ignored him, of course.

* * *

It proceeded as Crowley predicted. Expensive coffee table books set aflame all on their own. New issues of Weekly World News were placed on top of the kitchen cabinets and the step-stool hidden. Half the art in the apartment suddenly sported tiny smiley faces. Candy stashes went missing, which proved to be the last straw. Two months in, the prank war ended as it began, with a startled shout from Balthazar.

Crowley saw it happen from the corner of his eye. Balthazar was opening a fresh bottle of wine, and a split-second after the cork popped out the entire bottle cracked and shattered, glass and red wine flying everywhere. For a moment the blond stared at the mess, face blank, and Crowley turned to Gabriel who sat across from him at the dining room table. To his surprise, Gabriel wasn’t grinning or looking at all victorious. Before he could question it, Balthazar stirred.

“Fuck.”

A look back into the kitchen told him the expletive was warranted. A rivulet of blood ran down Balthazar’s left arm, light glinting off the small piece of glass that had gotten lodged in the skin just below his wrist.

Suddenly Gabriel was up and moving towards Balthazar. “God, Balth, I’m—”

Balthazar held up a hand. “No, don’t you dare.” With his good arm he managed to take off his shirt and used it to staunch the bleeding.

“For fuck’s sake, you two. Gabriel, we have some gauze in the bathroom. If you could?” Crowley entered the kitchen, while Gabriel scurried off, turning away from Balthazar only long enough to grab a pair of tweezers from a drawer. He batted away the blond’s hand from the injury and carefully extracted the glass.

Gabriel returned just in time with the gauze, trading it for the soiled shirt. “I really am—”

“Don’t.” Balthazar gave him a look, and Crowley resisted the urge to twist his arm. “I just want to know how.”

Both Crowley and Gabriel raised an eyebrow at that.

“How what?” Gabriel asked.

The blond smirked. “How you did it, because that was incredible.”

Finally Gabriel relaxed, leaning against the stove. “It’s amazing what you can do with Google and a pen knife.”

Crowley didn’t miss the way those amber eyes wandered Balthazar’s bare skin, lingering on the just-visible waistband of Armani boxers. Nor did the way Balthazar preened under that gaze. Finishing up the bandaging, Crowley straightened and stepped back, chuckling. “Are you two done now?”

“Worried you’d get left out of the fun?” Balthazar asked, gray-blue eyes gone dark and more than a little predatory.

And then Gabriel was looping an arm around Crowley’s waist with a grin, his other side just brushing against Balthazar’s. “Oh come on, it wouldn’t be fun if Crowles wasn’t involved.”

“Apparently not.” The darker-haired man shook his head and shot Gabriel a look. “You know, love, there are more direct ways of asking for a threesome. Like just asking for a threesome.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Is that a yes?”

“On one condition.” Crowley stared at both of them. “No more ridiculous pranking.”

Balthazar nodded. “Terms accepted. I surrender.”

“Agreed. Now, sexy times,” Gabriel said. He grabbed them both by the belt loops and dragged them towards one of the bedrooms.

Crowley allowed it, grinning to himself. Perhaps prank wars had their benefits after all.


End file.
